5/20/2011

Governmental Political Solutions are Not Ultimate

One of the reasons I've been participating in the Q Gathering conversation is because this group of Christians embrace all the options for cultural change available to us.

Gabe Lyons

Gabe Lyons helpfully delineates seven channels of culture:

Media

Education

Arts and Entertainment

Business

Government

Social Sector

Church

When people embrace their place in one or more of these culture channels (based on their gifts, passions, education, skills, training, influence, etc), they can then produce major change.

Notice that Government is certainly one of these channels. Notice, also, that Churchis another one of the channels. Not the only channel, but one of them. There are a lot of other ways we can bring about change.

I submit that when we place our hopes in only one channel, we do so at our society's peril.

Government is not the end-all cure-all to our societal problems. Our American society has fallen into this belief-system. Many people believe that in order to change our society, we must do so politically. Lots of money, time, and energy goes into attempting to pass laws and elect people that will solve society’s ills. However, when we place our faith in government, I believe that we have edged toward what the Bible calls idolatry.

By the way, I also believe that the Church is not the end-all cure-all to our societal problems. There has been a terrible history of Christians believing that God’s solution to the world’s ills is the institutional church. But this is idolatry as well. The Institutional Church is not Christ nor is it Christ’s Kingdom. An institution does not save the world. The people of God are called to be the witness of Christ and his Kingdom.

Back to my main concern: What I fear is that many people have a religious devotion to Politics. Our faith systems revolve around who people will vote for, what issues will be on the ballot, how we can save the world from the bad guys (the “bad guys” are those of opposing political ideologies).

Politics has its place, and we need people who will understand political issues deeply and be political activists. This is a legitimate cultural channel. I have many friends who reside in D.C. who are on the front line of this battle.

But here’s the rub: When we switch over to believing that our particular political ideology has salvific power, we no longer are being (a) realistic, and (b) honoring the only one who indeed provides salvation.